Case Study - Medical Recommendation vs. Religious Decision

• Gather the facts

The relevant facts in this case are as follows:

o Patient (PT) is a 27 year-old male, husband and father status post motor vehicle accident (MVA)

o Diagnosis (DX) upon admission to Holy Cross was head trauma with altered level of consciousness

o CT scan revealed sub-dural hematoma (SDH)

o Lab tests revealed elevated blood alcohol level (BAL) (level not given) and decreased platelet level (potentially due to BAL or prolonged alcohol use)

o Attending physician recommended surgery for correction, with the potential of needing platelet and/or blood transfusion

o The family opposed any treatment (TX) requiring blood transfusions

o The neurosurgeon informed the family that without further TX, the DX of the patient was likely to be terminal

o The PT’s family declined further medical care due to personal beliefs

o The neurosurgeon refused to operate based on inability to administer proper TX without a blood transfusion

o The PT died due to brain herniation, resulting from hematoma

o Post-mortem opinion is that PT would have survived with proposed TX

• Determine the ethical issues

The conflict involved the patient’s family’s belief system against blood transfusions versus the doctors desire to provide TX to their PT. An additional conflict is that the patient is not able to provide his own consent for a lifesaving measure, whether it was according to his beliefs or not. The doctors feel ethically bound to treat every patient with the best medicine available to provide the best chance for a successful recovery. The patient’s family, siting personal beliefs against blood transfusions, declined medical treatment for the patient.

• Determine what virtues/principles have bearing on the case

Perhaps the most critical issue here is the patient’s inability to make a medical decision that could save his life. This is both a fundamental, natural right and a legal right. God clearly gives the right to individual people to choose life or not,...